[IC] Journey to the East

[Illumin0sity]

Though she wasn't touching him, she was pestering him. Noah opened his eyes again at the tug of his bond, revealing to him her back and her movements as she edged closer to him still. He withdrew his hand and moved to turn onto his side, scooting closer to her until her back was against his front and his arm was draped over her midsection. He closed his eyes again and sought sleep out once more, eventually finding it soon after she did.

When she awoke Noah was in a state of half-sleep with his eyes closed to the world. He was unsure how much longer she would sleep, so he was seeking out another handful of chimes of restful sleep himself. It seemed she was going to get up though as she began to move and stretch against him. In the next moment he was kissed, causing him to crack his lids open in order to see what else she was doing.

Once he saw her laying there he resumed attempting to sleep some more, only stirring again when she did. She sat up and pulled on the blanket as she moved, causing it to edge off Noah and expose him to the cooler air in the wagon. He let out a long sigh from his nose, his hand resting on her thigh. There was a little throaty groan coming from him to tell her he didn't appreciate her disturbing his rest. It wasn't completely serious, more done in play and announcing his own borderline wakefulness.

[snelss0]

Elann only sat up enough to let the blankets slide off his upper half, though as he whined at her, she turned to him sleepily with her upper half and pulled the blanket up over him. She sat there a moment longer and then looked around to see if Aimee was inside or not. She didn't recall her having come in, but wanted to see.

Lacking in balance as the wagon shifted, she moved to sit on the bench after grabbing her dress. Sleepily she fit it on her and hooked the back. After a quick brush of her hair, she was ready for whenever they stopped.

The sounds of a yawn would be heard from the darkness coming from her as she slowly woke up more and rubbed her face. Pulling out the lantern, she hooked it to the top brace of the canvas and readied to light it with her tinder box and flint. Having become proficient, she could feel the oiled wick needed trimming, so she pulled off the char and left it to a point before proceeding to light it.

A dim golden glow spread through the small area around the lamp, but grew to spread across the whole of the interior. It was not very bright because of how she trimmed it; thinking of her husband. It was light enough however to see if Aimee was there, where her weaving materials ended up, and was bright enough to read or write. If Noah kept to his blankets and sleep, she would write in her journal, but if he seemed to wake, she would just weave.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah curled momentarily beneath the blanket as it was strewn across his upper body again. Elann slipped from it entirely and he took up the free space with a large stretch, lying that way all sprawled out for a moment longer as Elann fumbled with the lantern. He moved to the middle of the pallet, still lying down, and curling up underneath the blanket once more as the firelight took ahold of the interior.

In the light his face could be seen, and it was clear he was going to remain lying there for a while longer. He was supremely comfortable, so he fell back into a half-sleep state relatively quickly. It was only him and her in the wagon, though there was a sign of Aimee having been there: her trunk was open and aloft, a few garments spilling from the mouth.

Time enough passed for Elann to start writing in her journal, the only sound coming from Noah being the breaths he took that passed between his slightly pouted lips. By the time she was done, Noah was fast asleep in fullness, or as full as the Kelvic could get with the constant noise of the wagon moving under and around him.

Even though mentally he was very much awake earlier, physically he was near exhausted. His body was still healing and he managed to tax it to a low extreme with his transforming and hunting all day yesterday. His muscles were sore and groaned each time he moved them, the sleep was much needed. If Elann wanted him awake she would have to wake him herself or wait still.

[snelss0]

It was nice to get her thoughts down on paper. That husband of hers had crumpled back to sleep quite quickly in her mind and hadn't moved for a while. Once done, she folded the journal back into its spot as well as folded Aimee's clothes and put them in their proper spot, and then began weaving. Elann wished she had a loom, a large full room sized loom, with thick wooden posts that would last centuries passed down in her family, if she could even have a family.

Noah and her had been having sex sparsely, very sparsely, but she hoped it was enough for her to get pregnant. Soon she would know. Her last period was before they had left and it had been nearly three weeks. If the Gods were gracious to her, they would wait until she arrived in Zeltiva. Nothing about the bouncing wagon seemed to inspire her to want to go through any of the journey with it, but she was prepared if it did happen.

All such worries and thoughts were in her journal, not in detail, but hinted at sarcastically, but mostly what she wrote about was how she intended to try something new with Noah and their fighting. It didn't matter to her if he read it, it would only bring up the conversation earlier. As it was, right now, she didn't want to talk about it with him, if at all. Her hope was for it to be natural, to slow down and think, cool off.

The light clacking of her tools were gentle, likely only to bother Aimee's sensitive ears, and was essentially muffled next to the sounds of the wagon. Evening passed on and when the oil ran out and she sat in darkness, she came to lay next to Noah since there was nothing else to do. She didn't feel like replacing the wick and oil when the wagon bumbled about so much. That was a good way to light herself on fire. She settled in next to him and yet kept a distance because her hands and feet were cold, yet he was so warm comparatively. Not long after she had settled, the call was sounded for them to make camp and the rough bumps that came with running off the ruts of the road shook the wagon until they were on the grass.

[Illumin0sity]

Pillows and rugs could only make Noah's sleep so sound. Eventually he did wake, a short time before the call was sent out for the caravan to pull over for the night. He lay with eyes closed, body in on itself as he relished his own warmth and how much of it was trapped beneath the blanket atop him. One arm clutched the pillow underneath his head and the other was outstretched as if he was yearning for something. He didn't feel Elann come into the bed, in a deep stage of sleep when she did slip in, and the bumbling of the wagon made him deaf to the sounds of her walking around. He stay lying there until the off-road bumps and jumbling were silenced, after which he stretched out his arm further and blindly so, retracting it in order to roll onto his back.

Noah brought his hands fully above his head and stretched out his entire frame, feet poking out from the bottom of the blanket before being withdrawn back inside the warmth. His hands came over his face, both of the large things covering a half of his face each before they were dragged down off of his furry chin. Noah brought them up again to wipe his eye before opening them, looking up at the ceiling of the wagon in the dark. He recalled the light from the lantern and figured it had either gone out or Elann put it out before resettling near him. He was rested but his mind was still groggy, more so than when he usually woke up when sleeping on either a couch or a real bed, the lattermost he missed dearly.

A groan came from him, announcing how much he loathed to be awake in that moment, wanting more restful sleep. His head rolled to the side, allowing him to view Elann in the dark. One of his hands slid under the blanket and he touched her with the back of his fingers gently, letting them remain for a brief moment before he started to sit up, doing so only to wipe his eyes again and slouch as much as his back would allow. He scratched at his head next, loosening up any hair that may have been flattened down.

“My body hurts,” he whined quietly, fighting off the urge to stretch again. He whined groaningly once more, slightly laughing at himself as the urge to stretch came again and was still forced out into another, reaching for the ceiling and sprawling out his legs.

[snelss0]

The reactions of her husband's waking sent good and bad feelings through her body. There was the increased pain of his back and shoulder, but also the good of the stretch. He groaned and whined as she lay there looking to him in the dark. She couldn't see hardly anything except the flash of his lighter skin in the dark when the light from the wagon's flap inched through.

Even though she couldn't see him, she could hear him, and was perceptive enough to know that he was sitting up and stretching. Just by the smallest movement of his body she could tell what he was doing to a degree.

"I think your sister might be off hunting or something. I'm going to set up the tent. Are you okay? Do you need me to do something for your pain?"

She would rub his back, scratch it, or do just about anything for him he wanted. At the moment, she kept her cold hands tucked in tight to her body to hopefully warm them.

[Illumin0sity]

Elann's voice penetrated the darkness and the silence after his words. It seemed she thought Aimee was away hunting or something or another. There was no telling with Aimee, he knew as much. She very well could be hunting or just sitting the woods alone. It wasn't out of her character to grab a book between her jaws and trot off into the forest in order to sit beneath a tree and read. Noah much preferred to watch the wilds rather than read in them, but they each had their own quirks.

“I dunno,” he replied in return, sitting up straight. He brought his hand through his hair again, this time just to feel the strands between his fingers. “I'll be okay. You can go put up the tent. I'll just sit here until I can move.”

He let out a tired sigh and scratched at his arm, dancing around the edges of his wound, careful not to rake directly atop it with his nails. “Maybe I should just sleep forever, that way nothing will hurt,” he joked.

Afterwards, he moved towards the pitcher of water and the few cups they had in the wagon with them. Once there, he set in front of it all and poured himself a cup of water, turning to face Elann again as he sipped from the cup, wondering if she would be leaving right away to set up the tent or if she would linger around for a moment or two longer. It wouldn't bother him if she left right away, giving him more time to adjust to waking up and prepare himself for that night.

[snelss0]

Elann nodded with a hum, showing she heard him. He gave her permission to go put up the tent, so she turned to rise. Upon doing so, he joked about sleeping forever.

"It's fine. You haven't hardly moved those muscles at all for a long time. Just give them a chance to wake up. If you want, I can make you a special drink that we would make when we would be dehydrated and our muscles would be hurt and sore? It's actually kind of tasty, but it really works. It's not like the tea, it's not a medicine."

Now that the wagon had stopped, the driver hopped down and made his own tent up, but for her, she lingered to refuel the lantern and blow on the cooled wick to see if she could get it burning again. Eventually she did, but it didn't linger. She ended up having to redip the wick in the oil because it was too dry.

Once it was lit, she looked around for a moment and let her eyes adjust to the light and to see her husband where he ended up.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah swallowed the water in his mouth before speaking out into the lingering darkness. “No, it's fine,” he said in plain rejection. “I was joking anyway. I'm just being... dramatic. It doesn't really hurt that much.”

He was looking readily at Elann's moving figure in the darkness, watching her face light up as the wick flickered briefly to life. Eventually she did get the lantern lit up, to which he had to forcibly contract his pupils in order for them not to flooded by what was a bright light to his sensitive eyes, bright where once no light resided. He blinked a few times to reset his sights entirely before looking to Elann with refreshed eyes, bringing the cup up for another sip in case she had something to say in reply.

Noah was fine with his water, knowing he needed to drink way more than Elann did – at least two good drinks a day. He hadn't gotten that entirely since they started on the trip and it was really beginning to wear on him. It was beginning to show as well in the lack of motivation to maintain his appearance and how sluggish he had been, injury or none. Aimee hadn't shown the same degrading way, but Noah's morale had began to dip and would've dipped continuously regardless of if him and Elann were fighting or if he had never been injured. The fighting and injuries only added a quickening to how steeply his moods would go. He was beyond ready to be in Zeltiva.

[snelss0]

Part of her wished he would let her take care of him. His recovery would have been much quicker if he had not been so stubborn. Even before, without her urging when his leg was hurt, if he had his way, he would have wasted away. Silently she nodded, having to deal with it.

As her eyes remained close to the lantern, they seemed a golden blue, a color he didn't often get to see, and likely didn't get to see then due to his squinting before she stepped back. She then rifled through the things to get some stuff for the tent and then lugged the tent in heavy burden upon her shoulder once more. Giving him a quick smile, she moved to the back of the wagon and pushed through the flap and then hopped down. The added weight crumpled her down almost to bent knee, but she recovered. Elann was a fighter despite her lacking strength, and what she lacked in might, she made up for in endurance.

Quickly her mind assessed slope, distance to the fire, likeness of the possibility of rain, and escape routes needed should there be another bandit attack. While the bandit attack was a surprise before to them, Elann had always had a fear of bandits in her land. They were unfortunately very common. Eventually she began to get set up and then would come back for the lantern, the rugs and their changes of clothing for the next day. Everything else she already had inside, including a razor and knife to trim her husband. He had always been able to do it himself before, but she had always had to help her father, not out of necessity but out of a servant's mentality.

It didn't take long before the tent was up and the food for supper had not even hardly begun to cook yet. She missed the fresh game he would bring her and that she could cook up in her own way. The cook wasn't the same in his methods of cooking and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't overly good either.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah's need for independence was innate, deeply ingrained, and Elann would have to do nothing but deal with it. He sought help when he thought he needed it, if he didn't think he did, then he didn't seek it. It wasn't to say he wasn't appreciative for any aid he received, but he had been taking care of himself for years before she came around, being deemed ablebodied when he was otherwise very young of age. It wasn't either of their faults that she possessed the mindset of that of a servant and he had one of a fiercely independent being, being a lone predator and all. They were raised in very different enviroments. That said, the time with his leg was different: he was depressed at the time and lower than he had ever been. The wound was a physical manifestation of what he felt inside with the bond with Caesarion being broken. He took the initial help from Devi when it was given to him as her patient, and fled from the doctor when he wanted to be alone and with himself.

Noah rose his free hand to wave at her in goodbye as she slipped from the wagon with the fabric of the tent and the tools. When it came to her putting up the tent he wished he could've lent aid. He couldn't now because of his injuries, and he didn't before because she was already well versed in the construction of the shelter. He would only get in her way seeing as he didn't know the first thing about putting up a tent, aside from what he observed of her and the other campers. Obviously the need for him to have one was beyond small and it was purely for her benefit.

Before she came back Noah had found himself into another pair of shorts and managed to pin one of the wagon's flaps open, making Elann's return trips that much easier as she grabbed the last few things to put inside the now erect tent. Per usual, hers was one of the first up. Others either being slower or not bothering to put them up so early in favor of conversation or just wanting to sleep in the wagons. Noah sat down on the edge of their wagon and off to the side, swinging his legs idly.

He looked to the sky, noting the moving clouds as they roved in to obscure the moon. The front was large and menacing, darkening the already dark sky and forbidding Leth's moonlight from shining down onto the ground below whenever the thick bodies moved over the moon and stars. Noah knew the chance for rain was null unless he wished it to rain there. Zulrav had intentions on moving the front elsewhere, further to the north towards Sunberth or Ravok. With the clouds came the wind again, renewed in its energy and blowing stronger still when they passed over the Stormwarden's body.

These winds were inquisitive and searching, Noah felt. They were curious yet mischievous, one of his favorite moods to feel on the currents of air. He stuck out one of his hands to feel the breezes caress his palm and fingers, adding his own conjuring to the mix of air lightly. In time, his influence of the winds had become great. It was unknown to him if his power stopped at winds, wondering if he could produce claps of thunder and sparks of lightning without the aid of the stormgems. He knew he could make the clap of thunder himself when in his animal form, when he dove down from far in the sky at a breakneck speed only to abruptly stop, fanning out his tail feathers and opening his wings in full in order to cause the immediate area to snap and crack as if thunder was produced then and there. Elann had seen it first hand during one of their hunting trips, she'd only seen it once though.

As it were then, he was contently sitting, looking at some of the horses as they grazed in the meadow opposite the side of the road that the tent city was being erected.

[snelss0]

Fortunately for them, they had just restocked some supplies for fresh food. In a way it was a reward for pushing onward when they could have stopped. Unless botched, the meals from then on would be salted meats cooked into various foods with bread and ale. Elann wasn't too keen on some salted meats, but others she loved.

The Benshira finished setting up the interior, using mostly the lantern's light to establish it rather than the grown light of the fire to do so. She had learned almost immediately that having your tent open in the region they were in meant biting bugs would come in. Elann spared herself and her husband from any such treatment, though for the most part, for some reason biting bugs disliked her over other people. Perhaps it was her lack of iron in her diet, the lack of sugars, or it was something she preferred to eat, but whatever it was, nothing really ever took a nibble of her.

They were entering into more open country and the river was further away and the winds seemed to be stronger. That meant that the threat of walking around at night was far less than other nights when it came to being bit by the blood suckers. Still, the occasional bat would be seen in the light of the fire.

As Elann finished completely, she came up to him on the end of the wagon and came into his space. She smelled like the grass she had been walking in, the floral musty earth scent the wind carried that had blown her tamed hair, and the present lingering henna on her hair that was much less than before.

"You wanted to show me something? Are we waiting until after dinner?"

She pulled out her managalasutra and grasped the thali at the end of it, lightly poking his bare chest with the warm gold for really no reason alone other than to be slightly playful in her love for him.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah looked at Elann as she approached, giving her a brief glance in examination before looking back at the horses. He almost marveled over other animals, feeling some sort of camaraderie with them even though he wasn't completely like them. Unlike him, they weren't allowed to transform into the forms of a human, allowed to voice what was on their mind without relying of tacit gestures and other things that most humans missed unless they knew the particular animal or the change in behavior was glaringly obvious. He marveled horses most of all though, for one reason or another.

Elann came to him in full, speaking and drawing his attention to her over the horses. He looked back at her and nodded at both questions. Looking down, he took in her close proximity and how she was lightly jabbing him with her necklace in his chest. He raised his hand in retaliation, poking her above her bust with the tip of his finger, doing so for as long as she would be poking him with the charm of her necklace.

“We'll leave when everyone is sleeping,” he said, watching himself jab her in return. “We'll be safe, I promise.”

Noah still figured Elann was afraid of the dark, meaning the depths of the woods away from firelight and the other people. He was still afraid of it himself. Unlike Elann, he hadn't been subjected to frequent bandit raids or much of anything attacking him. Only lately in his life had he been subjected to attacks from others, his growing independence as a person apparently drawing adversity in the forms of people, wolves, and falcons. He was constantly afraid but the fear didn't stop him from going on into the dark, the want to go against the grain of fear was either courageous or foolish.

Withdrawing his hand from her, he used it to point to the clouds above. They were dark and growing darker still. “It won't rain,” he assured, unsure if she knew it for certain. The clouds had only just began to move in, a quickly advancing front that would begin to appear massive from their viewpoint on the ground.

“You should bring a cloak so you don't get cold. It'll be late and windy,” he said to her.

[snelss0]

Elann knew better than to ask her husband as she poked him and he poked her just exactly what they were doing that night. The way he had asked it indicated that he wanted to keep it quiet, if not a secret. Who knew what that meant or what they were going to do.

"Okay," she stated cautiously after another light poke. His finger jabs were doing the trick and though not hard, it was bruising her chest and giving her great pain. She returned the object of her poking back to where it came from and ran her hands up his thigh, leaning lightly on them as her hands came up to a stop by his hips.

He indicated that it wouldn't rain, and from what she could tell, she figured it wouldn't but her guesswork wasn't as solid as his knowledge. Looking up she nodded. He had indicated that while it wouldn't rain, it may end up being cold and windy.

"Is there anything other than a cloak I should bring? A lantern? Blanket? Do we need food?"

She looked at him innocently in her curiosity, chewing her lip in thought as she tried to figure out exactly what they were doing.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah appreciated her not prying about what they would be doing. She was right to assume she would get nothing if she did attempt to prod about what they were to be doing later that night. The need to be secretive would be understood by her once they were on their way to where they would need to be that night. All that was happening now was in preparation for tonight, even Noah’s seemingly inanimate way of doing anything. He was preparing himself and the setting for what was to come, going over things in his mind but knew what he imagined may not be the truth of the matter.

“Just the cloak,” he said. “We won’t need anything else, unless you wanted to bring a snack of something.”

He was unsure how long the venture would take. It wouldn’t last well into the morning, to where they would risk being left behind in the caravan. Dinner may not have been enough to sate them from now until then though, but then again both of them could go a while on a big meal.

Noah met her eyes finally, raising his brows slightly in idle expression. His eyes went over her face and took in her dark hair. He took a little breath and licked his lips, wondering what was on her mind pertaining to the event. He didn’t want to ask, for fear it would lead to her bringing up questions he couldn’t and didn’t want to answer.

“Have you thought anymore about Zeltiva?” he asked. “We’re so close now that maybe we should discuss what we’ll do when we get there, at least until we’re settled. What do you think?”

His brows raised again, this time to cement the question, his eyes large and pale in the dim light as they looked to her for an answer.

[snelss0]

It was all mysterious to her. She wondered if Aimee was in on this somehow as she was gone again. They were going to wait it seemed until everyone was asleep, and that seemed very strange to her. If they wanted to leave, they just could, but the fact that they were waiting until everyone who knew where they last were was gone to the land of slumber weirded her out. She was a patient sort of person at times though and she nodded about the snack. She'd likely bring a bit of bread for him incase he got hungry. She herself would not be.

Elann didn't ask anything as he looked idle to her patiently waiting for him to ask her something or tell her something. When it seemed there was no more information for her in that instance, she climbed inside to grab her cloak and then returned before him with it bundled up. He asked her again about her plans, a question he had asked a couple times already. Her answer still hadn't changed, but his repetitive asking of it told her he really wanted some sort of plan.

She took a moment longer to think this time to come up with some sort of plan for him, though really she had no idea. She grew up in a tent and had been told on numerous occasions that Zeltiva was nothing like Syliras. She had no idea what was before her.

"Um...well I guess I will look for a place that sells rugs and see if they need help. If not, then perhaps I will see about working as a tailors assistant. Your sister really wants us to stay in your home for at least a little while. She said we would likely have your brother's room since he's gone and it's I guess bigger than yours?"

[Illumin0sity]

“Okay,” he said quietly, nodding a little in understanding at her statements, not the question.

He trusted the two of them would figure something out, like they had said to one another before leaving Syliras. It really didn't matter what awaited them in Zeltiva, whether it would be a peaceful and easy settling or if it would be complicated and filled with pitfalls, they'd figure it out. So far they had persevered through a great deal, though each pitfall beforehand was on an individual level, one person helping out the other. The trip so far had been a trial of their relationship, it straining and waning until reparation. They had yet to face something that pit them both against an outside force rather than the two of them going against one another.

Plainly speaking, he wanted some form of abstract plan for them when they arrived in Zeltiva. If it was just him, he would go with the flow and take on whatever would come. Since he was with her however, he wanted to make the transition as seamless as possible for her, knowing it wouldn't be too bumpy for him since it was his hometown. He doubted it could change so much in three or four years' time. Elann coming into his life had made him begin to think farther ahead and in the long term when it came to his life, mostly because it was shared. Before her, the most long term thinking he did was when it pertained to his territory in the Bronze Woods and hunting.

“Donavan's room is bigger than mine,” he confirmed. “I think we should stay there for a few days, then I can take you to the inn by the old mine and we can be by ourselves for a little while. I think we should stay in my family's home for a few days just so you can meet everyone.”

While Noah was still unsure how Elann would be received, he wanted her to be a part of his family. For that to happen she had to meet everyone and be accepted by his father. He didn't believe his father would have a hard time accepting Elann, especially since his mother had already come to like the Benshira. The family was often regarded as the pack, his mother and father being the alphas. His father was much more menacing than his mother but his mother was more than boss than his father. His mother made the rules, his father enforced them for the most part.

“I don't think I can fit in my bed anymore,” he said, laughing lightly. “Let alone both of us. Don had a larger bed before I left, and a larger room. It should be okay for a few days.”

[snelss0]

Noah repeated what Aimee had said, showing Elann had heard it before. Given the time that they had spent together on the trip, it would be nice to have the freedom to wander. On the journey, it was hazardous to wander away from the caravan, but it likely wouldn't be the case in the middle of the city.

"Okay," she answered him about his family and meeting them. It was the least she could do for them. They were after all throwing her a party. The wedding feasts would last a long time in her tribe, but she doubted this would be like that, but who knew? Isabella had been to Eyktol. Perhaps she would know that their feasts took days to complete? Maybe she would have that? Given the city's reputation for wanting a party, she doubted that they would be lacking in their guests unless they wanted to keep it a family affair. She had no issue having random strangers celebrating with her as long as they paid their respects.

"I will be okay wherever. If nothing else, we have the tent. I could even live in that for a time if you wanted."

She slid from him and smiled.

"I am going to put this cloak in the tent and then go help the cook maybe make something better tonight, if that's okay?"

[Illumin0sity]

Noah threw his head lightly to the side to say what she said was true: they did have the tent, it didn't necessarily mean he wanted to sleep in that while in Zeltiva either. He truly didn't want to do anything with the travel anymore. The tent would remind him of it, and he would be thankful to stay off the road or sea for a long time. He didn't recall his own trip from Zeltiva to Syliras being as grueling as he was beginning to feel this one was, but then again that was four years ago and he was younger and filled with a great wanderlust. The wanderlust remained, but he rather would see the world from an aerial perspective, realizing now how truly unique it was compared to the trudging along the road.

He looked at Elann as she slid away from him, announcing she was going to help the cook prepare something. “If you want,” he said nonchalantly. “I'll be here.”

Noah licked his lips once more and pulled himself back into the wagon, figuring he'd get appropriately dressed while she was away. He slunk away inside, standing up with the aid of the bench before drawing the wagon flap closed once more. Now that he was submerged in the darkness again he went for their trunk, grabbing one of the stormgems out of the sack and forcing light to seep from the stone into the room. He was beginning to understand them slowly but surely, proud that he was able to do so himself with little aid from others. Already their combative capabilities had been tapped but he wondered just what else lay beneath the smoothed surface of the stones.

He set the gem up atop Aimee's trunk, the light remaining even after his hands drew away from the gem. Noah stripped his shorts and put on a fresh pair of underwear, sliding trousers over top that in time before fishing out a shirt and then a leather jerkin to put on top of that. He found a pair of socks and stuck them into his still fairly new pair of boots before picking the shoes up and returning to the edge of the wagon, setting them there by the bench. Doubling back, he replaced the gem with the others, but not before grabbing his black cloak. With the trunk closed, he returned to the bench and threw the cloak down over it, moving to reopen the flap next. He took his time in getting dressed, knowing it would be some time before both of them would start moving. He didn't want to take time to get dressed again though, knowing when it came time for them to move he wanted to move right away.

[snelss0]

With permission, Elann zipped off to do her duty. The caravan still had plenty of meat for the remaining days and if she had anything to do with it, she was going to show the cook how to at least cook his spices into the meal so it tasted better.

After the meal was done cooking and everything smelled nice, the bell rang. People queued up and Elann took her own plate and her husband's the wagon. It was a type of stew, but tasted significantly better than previous stews he had made. With the collaboration of the two it turned into a tasty meal.

Elann then gathered a piece of bread for the road in wherever they were going, but one thing did surprise her, her husband wearing clothes.

"Oh...you look gooood," she would say, fawning over him a moment before moving to finish her own meal. Like always, she would eat slowly and silently, and when she had had her fill, Noah would receive the rest of her food.

As time drew on, people would start to go to bed once the evening meal hit them, but some stayed up drinking ale and laughing, as for some reason the end of their journey lifted the spirits of some who had not lost anyone. Eventually they too would either pass out near the fire or would head to bed. Then their time would come. At that time, Elann would have changed into her winter furs and put on her thick travel cloak, then donned her bow and arrows unless he otherwise instructed her not to. She also would bring the dagger she gave him, handing it to him just in case.